Lagos residents use art to draw attention to the gaps in the prevention and treatment of malaria. According to UNICEF, over 1,000 children under the age of 5 catch malaria every day.
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Murray Valley encephalitis has been detected in south-eastern Australia. No human cases have yet been reported, but past outbreaks after floods show we need to be cautious.
It’s only wishful thinking that you can ward off mosquitoes from within.
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A medical myth persists that the B vitamin thiamine is a systemic insect repellent that wards off mosquitoes when taken orally. But scientists have disproven this mistaken belief again and again.
Shüné Oliver, National Institute for Communicable Diseases and Jaishree Raman, National Institute for Communicable Diseases
As the Earth warms up the malaria vector will develop faster, allowing them to breed faster, bite more frequently and expand into formerly unsuitable habitats.
80% of malaria deaths are in children younger than five.
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Mozzies can make you sick by injecting a cocktail of saliva and virus when they bite. Ross River virus has long been a risk but now we’re also contending with the more serious Japanese encephalitis.
Mosquitoes can track down potential hosts using the CO2 released by humans’ metabolic processes, a medical entomologist explains.
People catch La Crosse disease primarily from the bite of the eastern tree-hole mosquito – although two other species may also carry the virus.
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It’s not just mosquitos. Flooding, extreme heat and other climate-related hazards are bringing people into contact with pathogens more often, and affecting people’s ability to fight off disease.
Mosquito-borne diseases are estimated to cause over 1 million deaths a year.
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Certain viruses like dengue and Zika can make their hosts smell tastier to mosquitoes. Luckily, vitamin A and its derivatives may help combat these odor changes.
Mosquitoes are commonplace in summer but where do they go once the weather cools? They don’t completely disappear but find fascinating ways to survive the winter.
Tracking mosquitoes in our backyards, such as Aedes notoscriptus, helps authorities work out future health risks.
Cameron Webb (NSW Health Pathology)
Tracking mosquitoes is essential to understanding their pest and public health risks. You can help too – here’s how.
Artificial light may trick malaria-transmitting mosquitoes into changing their feeding habits, protecting people against bites.
Professor Lizette Koekemoer/University of the Witwatersrand
Hiral Anil Shah, Imperial College London; Kallista Chan, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and Kris Murray, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
New research quantifies the link between agricultural practices and malaria transmission in sub-Saharan Africa.
Principal Medical Scientist and Head of Laboratory for Antimalarial Resistance Monitoring and Malaria Operational Research, National Institute for Communicable Diseases